Race Report Edmonton Indy

Race Report: Edmonton Indy

EDMONTON, Canada July 22, 2012-Serving notice. Starting deep in the 25-car field, Mike Conway drove one of his best races of the season as he took the ABC Supply Honda-powered Dallara to 11th spot in the caution-free Edmonton Indy Sunday afternoon.

Without benefit of a yellow flag to gain track position on the 2.22-mile airport circuit, Conway passed 12 cars on track even after the team had to adapt its race strategy near the time of its first pit stop. Conway had to aggressively save fuel in the final two stints.

The young Brit worked his way up to 16th before pitting for tires and fuel on lap 23. With most teams pitting on lap 25 or 26, Conway did a good job to conserve fuel as he next pitted on lap 50 while 13th. The competition pitted on laps 51 or 52. On the alternate red tires now, he moved up to 12th by lap 60 but that’s when the fuel laps became more conservative as he had to make certain fuel numbers to go the final 25 laps without stopping for a splash. He registered his quickest lap of the race (which at the time was the quickest overall race lap) on lap 64 when he passed Simon Pagenaud for 11th. He set his sights on Scott Dixon and closed to within striking distance but could not turn up the wick to pass Dixon and also make it to the end of the 75-lap race.

“It was a fun race,” Conway said afterwards. “We were going to try a different strategy and after the first stop, we had to change because it wasn’t going to work. So we had to save a lot of fuel and move forward which we managed to do. The engineers did a great job all weekend. The ABC Supply car was really good and now we just have to continue this form at Mid-Ohio.”

Mike Conway Has Mechanical Problems in Qualifying; Will Start 24th

EDMONTON, Canada July 21, 2012—After finishing in the top 3 in both of Friday’s practice sessions, Mike Conway and the ABC Supply team’s chances for a Firestone Fast Six appearance evaporated in the first round of qualifying today due to fuel pressure problems.

The problems arose towards the end of this morning’s practice session. Conway was in the top three when the problems began to surface and he dropped to 15th by session’s end. The team went through the fuel system and replaced the fuel pump as a precaution. Unfortunately, the fuel pressure problems worsened in qualifying and Conway only ran one lap before the engine began cutting out. The team tried putting in more fuel in a quick attempt to alleviate the problem but to no avail. Conway will start 24th in the Edmonton Indy.

“We had a fuel pressure problem this morning and it was even worse in qualifying,” said Conway immediately afterwards. “We tried lots of things to fix it before qualifying including replacing the fuel pump but obviously it didn’t get fixed. They’re going through everything again now to find the problem. It’s disappointing because we had a good car and were quick all weekend. We definitely had the pace to be up there in the front with the ABC Supply car.”

The team again went through the car’s fuel system and believe they have found the problem but they won’t know for sure until the final warm-up Sunday morning.

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the pole but will start 11th because of a 10-spot grid penalty due to an unapproved engine change. Qualifying second through fifth were: Dario Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Takuma Sato and Alex Tagliani. The race on Edmonton's City Centre Airport course will be televised live on NBC Sports Network with coverage starting at 2 p.m. ET.

Conway in Top Three in Edmonton Practice

EDMONTON, Canada July 20, 2012--Mike Conway and the ABC Supply team experienced their best ‘first day’ of practice of the season as the IZOD IndyCar Series returned to Edmonton’s City Centre Airport for the Edmonton Indy.

Conway was second quickest in the morning practice session and third quickest in the afternoon practice session. His quickest lap of the day (104.642mph/1:16.5122) came in the second session and it was just two hundredths of a second slower than Helio Castroneves who set fast time (104.670mph/1:16.4920). Scott Dixon was second in the later session with a speed of 104.666mph (1:16.4947).

Conway appeared satisfied after the session, saying, "Top three in both sessions. I'm pretty happy with the car. It's been good from the start. We made only minor changes in the first session, but in Session 2, we explored a bit more and improved it. Good job by everyone on the ABC Supply Team today."

The team will have another practice session in the morning before qualifying gets underway at 1:00 pm MT.

Notes & Quotes: Edmonton Indy at Edmonton City Centre Airport

•Mike Conway on racing in Edmonton: “The new track isn’t quite as good as the old one but last year we had a good race there. We came from the back and finished eighth. Edmonton is pretty bumpy. The new part of it—the first four or five corners--are new tarmac, so that’s pretty smooth. The rest of it gets back to the old bumpy track, so it’s really two disciplines you’ve got to work on. The last corner is a really tight hairpin so you brake as late as you can and get out as quick as you can. The first corner’s a massive braking zone where you can find time and the third corner is another really tight hairpin--you’ve got to have a car that stops well and turns well over the bumps.”

•Conway on best place to pass: “Last corner, first corner, Turn 3, all the hairpins basically-- you have a good chance of passing people because you’ve got long straights in between. There’s also that corner in the middle where I was passing a lot of cars last year so it just depends on where you’re able to be quicker than the other cars.”

•A.J. Foyt becomes a great-grandfather—again! Foyt’s grandson A.J. IV and his wife Casey welcomed their second son Lockey James Foyt, born at 1:21p.m. on Monday, July 16 in Indianapolis. Weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz and measuring 20 in., Lockey is the couple’s second child—A.J. V was born nearly two years ago on Sept. 18, 2010. Lockey James is named after A.J. Foyt’s great uncle Lockey Foyt and Casey’s father Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts. Lockey is the sixth great-grandchild for Foyt.